Minor fire at Goa’s Dabolim airport; passengers evacuated, operations unaffected

Fire in electrical switch room at Goa’s Dabolim airport doused in minutes; passengers shifted to safe areas, no injuries or flight disruption reported.

A minor fire triggered by an electrical fault broke out at the terminal of Goa International Airport on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of passengers, though it was quickly contained with no disruption to flight operations or injuries reported, officials said.

Electrical fault sparks fire at Dabolim airport; (Representative photo)

According to airport officials, the fire broke out in the electrical switch room next to the elevator at the “Arrival A2” corridor around 11:35 am on Saturday.

“Immediately, fire staff rushed to the spot. The fire was controlled by the fire team by 11:43 am,” the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement, adding that passengers who were in the terminal “were relocated to areas where there was no smoke.”

“The flight operations remained unaffected as this incident took place during NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) hours and arrival area was clear of smoke by the time of the first arrival flight. However, the passengers who were already in SHA (Security Hold Area) were relocated to areas where there was no smoke, and airlines were directed to inform pax to remain calm and not panic due to smoke. Smoke was contained by using smoke extractors in the building by 1225 hrs,” the statement said.

However, passengers were allowed to check in and wait for their flights during this time. No casualties were reported, officials said.